According to ABCNews.com, hip-hop mogul Jay-Z (and his associates) filed a suit Thursday in Manhattan federal court accusing Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz of “marketplace confusion and damage” for opening a “Forty/Forty” night club in the Dominican Republic.

Jay-Z owns like-named “40/40” clubs in New York City, Las Vegas and Atlantic City along with business partner Juan Perez.

“David Ortiz is fully aware of plaintiff’s Manhattan 40/40
Club, since he had been a patron there on several occasions long before
he opened his infringing Forty/Forty Club,” reads the suit.

Jay-Z is well known for being a Yankees fan, and even claims to have made the “Yankee cap more famous than a Yankee can,” in the criminally overplayed “Empire State of Mind.” There’s probably a joke to be made here about New York pulling a fast one on Boston, or the Red Sox copying off the Yankees yet again, but this story really is plenty funny all by itself. And Big Papi is struggling enough at the plate.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports Thursday that the Orioles “are said to have begun fielding calls of interest” on superstar Manny Machado and “are close to the point of seriously weighing whether to trade him.”

You’d think it would be a no-brainer for the last-place O’s to flip Machado — an impending free agent — for prospects, but Heyman notes there is “still a question whether or not longtime Orioles owner Peter Angelos” will give the go-ahead. One person familiar with the situation put it a “50-50” likelihood. Another suggested that it would take a massive return, which, sure.

Machado entered play Thursday with a sensational .328/.405/.635 batting line, 15 home runs, and an MLB-leading 43 RBI in 49 games. It’d be a real shock if he’s still wearing an O’s uniform by the end of July.

Heyman reported previously that at least nine teams made aggressive plays for Machado this winter, including the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Indians, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, and Cardinals. A whole lot of those teams still make sense here in late May — maybe all of them except the White Sox.